REGION

REGION

WCI Steel fills position to improve quality

WARREN — WCI Steel has hired Joseph Knecht as vice president for quality and continuous improvement. He has 25 years of experience in operations improvement. His most recent position was operations manager and director of process and continuous improvement at Titanium Metals Corp. plants in Morgantown, Pa., and Toronto, Ohio.

Leonard Anthony, president and chief executive of WCI, said Knecht is working to engage all employees to identify improvements that will result in greater efficiency, improved yields, reduced cycle times, more consistent quality, lower costs and increased levels of customer service. Knecht holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indiana Institute of Technology.

Innovation Accelerator to be program topic

YOUNGSTOWN — David Karpinski, vice president of technology innovation at NorTech, will speak at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Youngstown Business Incubator’s Third Thursdays program. He will provide details on the Innovation Accelerator.

Developed by NorTech and MAGNET, two technology development organizations in Northeast Ohio, the Innovation Accelerator is designed to drive innovation in small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

The program, which will be at Youngstown Business Incubator at 241 W. Federal St., is free, but reservations are required by contacting Julie Michael Smith at (330) 259-7644 or jmsmith@ybi.org.

From Vindicator staff reports